Lapping and honing machine



Sept. 24, 1946. M. E. EARLY LAPPING AND HONING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed 001;. 27, 1944 INVENTOR. M EDWARD FARLY Arrow/vs) Sept. 24, 1946. 'M. E. EARLY 2,408,204

LAPPING AND HONING MACHINE Filed Oct. 27, 1944 4 Sheets-$heet 2 IN V EN TOR;

] v M fawnz a EARLY $5 52 v krToRn/EY Spt. 24, 1946. EARLY 2,408,204

LAPPING my HONING MACHINE Filed Oct. 27,1944 4 S heets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

M. EDWARD EARLY ATTOIFNE? Sept. 24, 19,46. M. E. E RLY 4408,2 3

,4 LAPPING AND HONING MACHINE Fil ed Oct. 27, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 1 INVENTOR. F N. EDWARD ERLY I 6. 7 y I I ,QL

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 24, I946 7' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE M. Edward Early, Rockford, Ill. Application October 27, 1944; Serial No. 560,657

The present invention relates to a machine adapted for lapping or honing articles in quantities andhas for its objects generally stated, providing a machine which is simple, easily operated, accurate, can be manufactured at low cost and has high productivity. 7

The principal objects of the present inventio are to provide a rotating head with a number of collets for holding the work, each collet being rotated and oscillated radially, and to provide a motor having abrasion discs secured to theends of the motor shaft.

An important object of the present invention is to so hold and move the work whereby there is no possibility of inaccuracy or defect as to the finished surface.

To these and other useful ends my invention consists of parts, combinations of parts or their equivalents and mode of operation ashereinafter described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the disc carrying unit B.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of. the work head.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the work head.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the work headtaken on line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Fig. 6 is a top view illustrating the mounting of the collet controlling lever.

Fig. 7 is a front view of the device as shown in Figure 6.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal View of the device shown in Figures 6 and '7. I

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Figure 7 with the lever acter C and the work head is designated in its entirety by reference character D.

Member A may be a frame somewhat similar to a lathe frame. and having preferably four carrying legs (not shown). Member A is provided with an extension member which is rigidly attached thereto. Member C is slidably mounted on member Ill having means for manuallymoving this member. In Figure 1 I illustrate this .means by lfllaims. (Cl. 51133) is designated in its entirety by reference chara gear rack II, a pinion l2 and a hand wheel l3, thus to provide conventional means for moving member D to and from the tool.

Member 0 is provided with an electric motor (not shown), having a driven shaft I I to which member D is operatively connected. Member C has a suitable bearing I5 throughwhich shaft 14 extends.

I have shown member C as slidably mounted on member In for moving the work to and from the discs on member B. It will be understood that any other suitable means may be supplied for moving member D, for example, the motor and member C maybe held stationary and the shaft of member D may be spline connected to the motor shaft or the motor maybe slidably mounted on member C or on member NJ, the design of the mechanism for moving member D to and from the discs being optional.

Member B is rotatably mounted on member A, the mounting comprising a post l8 having a flange I9 and having rotatably mounted on the post a sleeveZfl with a flange 2|. A motor base 23 is turnablymounted on flange [9. The assembly being held together by means of bolts 24, so either members 20 or 23 may be turned on post l8, bolts 24 being preferably positioned so members 20 or 23 may be turned or A; turn in either direction.

I provide a ring 29 which is held to member 29 preferably by means of four spaced braces 39. I rotatably mount in ring 29 preferably four shafts 3i having discs 32 mounted on their outer ends, each being arranged to carry a sheet of abrasive material or be supplied with an abrasive compound. The ends of the motor shaft are splined and the inner ends of shafts 3| also are splined. I provide a splined collar 33 so these shafts maybe operatively connected by moving this member over the spline of a shaft 3! and disconnect the shaft 3| bymoving member '33 out of contact withthe spline of this shaft.

In some installations, ring 29 and braces 30, including two of the discs and shafts may be dispensed with and two discs 32 mounted directly on the ends of the motor shaft and that by turning the motor turn either disc may be made to contact the work. In either event locking means (not shown) is provided whereby members 2| and 23 may be closely adjusted to a desired position and positively held, the desired position being one in which the face of discs 32 will be held exactly transverse to the shaft which carries member D. For adjusting the work to exactly a vertical position to discs 32, shims (not shown) may be used between members Ill and C.

Referring specifically to member D, an eccentric sleeve 40 is rotatably mounted on shaft 14 having gear teeth 4! and a bearing surface 42, and is held from turning in any suitable manner. For example shafts 48 are secured to member 49 and slidably extend into member C for this purpose. A ring 43 is rotatably mounted on surface 42 and member 43 has rotatably mounted thereon shafts 44 by means of ball bearings 45. I provide pinion teeth 46 on the inner ends of shafts 44 which mesh teeth 4 I. Thus it will be seen that if member 45 is held from turning and member 43 is rotated,

pinions 46 will travel around the axi of teeth 4! as they rotate,

On the forward end of shafts 44 I mount sleeves 59. These sleeves are offset as at the rear end being slidably and rotatably mounted on shaft 44. Offset 5! is, as shown, a distance from the front end of shaft 44. In the spaces between offsets 5| and the ends of the shafts I place springs 48. Members 52 and 53 are keyed to shaft l4. each being provided with slots 54 and 55. Slots 54 are slightly larger than the diameter of the rear of members 56 and slots 55 are slightly larger than the diameter of the front end of members 5 3. Thus it will be seen that offset 5| will rest against the rear surface of member 53 and shaft 44 will therefore be urged rearwardly, thus to cause collets 65 to engage the work as follows:

Collets or work holding element 60 are screwthreaded into shafts 44 and when the work is placed in the collets which are supplied with outwardly extending flanges 5|, springs 49 will urge members 6! into the sleeves, thus to cause the collets to grip the work. Shafts 44 are held in longitudinal working position by offsets 5i and members 5 It will be understood that the design shown inFigure 3 is for purposes of illustration only and that ball bearings 45 will be larger than shown and that all of the parts in member D may be differentl designed.

As illustrated ring 43 will be turned by members 52 and 53; however ring 52 may have a pin which extends into member 43 to act as a driver. In this event slots 54 and 55 need not touch the sides of the sleeves.

I provide means for disengaging collets 60 en masse as follows:

An annular disc 18 is slidably mounted on shafts 48 and is normally held adjacent projections H on 44- when the collets are engaged. I provide a lever '52 having a shape as shown in Figure '7. This lever at its forward end is pivoted to a shaft 48 as at l3 and the lever is also pivoted to disc 54 as at 34 and '55. Thus it will be seen that by pressing forward on the free nd of lever 12 member "iii may be moved forward and contact member I! so as to disengage the collets, thus releasing the work, so the work can be removed and new pieces inserted in th collets.

After the work is inserted in the collets and before lever 12 is released, member C may be moved forward so plate 32 will hold the work in posit on until lever 12 is released.

It will be seen that when the collets are loaded with work and plate 32 supplied with an abrasive material and the motors started, the work will be revolved and turned around in circles and moved back and forth across the face of plate 32. The first such operation may be made with plate 32 having a fast cutting abrasive material. After the work is brought into contact for this first operation member B may be turned to another disc on which is applied a finer abrasive material. With the design shown, four different discs protime and that the operator may without chang ing the work perform two or mor operations on the work; and that because of the oscillating and turning movement of the work and the oppositely turning head and disc, the work will be quickly and efficiently trued, polished or burnished, depending upon the requirements. It will also be seen that if there is a slight difference in the length of the work, by manipulating lever i2 and member C, the faces of the work may be evenly positioned by contact with the disc.

Referring now to Figure 11; this design operates exactly the same in principle as the design shown in Figure 3, the advantage over the other design being that it is simpler and more compact and better adapted for work requiring extreme accuracy. An eccentric sleeve is rotatably mounted on the driven shaft 8! and having gear teeth 32 on its rear end and a bearing surface 83 on its forward end. This sleeve is prevented from turning by means of shafts 43 as in the other design. A ring 84 which corresponds to ring 43 in the other design, is rotatably mounted on hearing surface 83. A collar 85 is secured to shaft 5! having a driver 19. Apin 85 is secured to ring 84 which extends in the path of member '59, thus member is will drive ring 84.

I provide a number of collet equipped shafts 8? having gear teeth 88 which mesh teeth 82. Members 81 are rotatably mounted in ring 84 by means of ball bearings 33. A collet shaft 553 is slidably mounted in members B! as at 55 and 52 so as to form an opening for a spring 93. The forward ends of members 8! and 90 are shaped as shown, members 9i! having outwardly extend-- ing cone shaped flanges 94. The entire front end of members 96 are split, preferably in four places as at so as to grip the work because of the tension of spring 93. The rear ends of members 99 are provided with projections H so member iii, as in Figure 3, may be used to force 90 forwardly for releasing the work. Opening is suitable to freely receive the work or a stem on the work.

Having thus shown and described my inven' tion, I claim:

1. A lapping machine of the character described, comprising a motor driven disc adapted for use on its face of a lapping compound or an abrasive element, a carrying element having driven shaft and a work head mounted thereon. means for manually moving the disc work head toward and from each other, said work head comprising an eccentric gear and bearing member, and being rotatably mounted. on said shaft and held from turning by said carrying element, a ring rotatabl mounted on said bearing member, a number of spaced shafts rotatably mounted on said ring having pinions secured thereon for engagement with the teeth of said gear, hubs secured to the front end of said driven shaft having radially positioned slots one for each said shafts, work holding collets secured. to each said shafts, an offset sleeve slidably mounted on the forward end of said shafts, the forward of the sleeve being slidably mounted on the collets, a cone shaped projection on the forward end of said collets, springs positioned between the offset of the collets and the front end of said shafts adapted to yieldingly hold said cone shaped surfaces against the forward end of said sleeve. said collets having openings for the reception of the work and means whereby said springs will cause the collets normally to grip the work, manually operated means at the rear of said work head. adapted to contact said shafts and cause the collets to release the work simultaneously.

2. A device of the character described, com. prising a head havingla protruding driven shaft,'f

member rotatably an eccentric gear and bearing mounted on said shaft, a ring rotatably mounted on said bearing member, a number of spaced collet equipped shafts rotatably mounted on said ring having pinions adapted to mesh said gear, the end of said driven 3. A device of the character described, com

for holding said prising a head having a protruding driven shaft,

an eccentric gear and bearing member rotatably mounted on said shaft, a ring rotatably mounted on said bearing member, a number of spaced work holder equipped shafts rotatably mounted on said ring having pinions adapted to mesh said gear, a driving member secured to the end of said driven shaft operatively connected to said ring, releasable means associated with said work holding means, means adapted to hold said gear and bearing elements from turning, whereby the work will be revolved and also turned. around said driving shaft and oscillated radially.

4. A device of the character described comprising; a driver shaft, a hub rotatably mounted on said driver shaft, the forward end of the driver shaft protruding, said hub having a gear on its rear end, a ring rotatably mounted on said hub, a number of circumferentially spaced collet members rotatably mounted in said ring having at their rear ends pinions adapted to mesh said gear, means for holding said hub from turning, a driver secured to the protruding end of said driver shaft having means for turning said ring to thereby cause the collet members to turn around said driver shaft and revolve as they turn, collet shafts slidably mounted in said collet members having springs and means whereby the collet shafts will be moved rearwardly by the springs to cause the collets to engage the work, a longitudinally movable plate in rear of said collet shafts having manually operated means to cause the plate to engage the collet shafts simultaneously to move them forward for disengaging the work.

M. EDWARD EARLY. 

